Sushi or not sushi

So far I'm still doing very little at work. I kind of hope that'll change soon. Better yet, I hope they come up with a requisition for me so I can become a permanent employee instead of being a contractor. Contracting sucks.

Today I woke up to the infamous "smoking gun" video where Bin Laden is purportedly bragging about the September 11th attacks. Assuming the government translation is accurate, what a jerk (can I under state anything more?)!

Meanwhile, I've been hitting the Arab news sites trying to find any commentary on the accuracy or inaccuracy of the U.S. Government's translation of what was said on that tape with Bin Laden. Once a cynic, always a cynic.

The weather is getting dark and ucky here. I was enjoying the sun and relatively balmy weather, but now a storm is rolling in. I could feel the increased humidity this morning because I had a harder-than-usual time getting up. I am in that "second and third week slump" one often gets when one starts a new job after an extended period of unemployment. I'm hoping my body will get used to working soon.

Right now I am bored and hungry. I'm trying not to eat because I want to be good about my diet, and because I'm feeling extra fat. Yeah, I'm retaining water like a high-quality sponge, but knowing that doesn't make my clothes fit any looser. I took a diuretic this morning and I've been chugging water, yet almost nothing is coming out. Darn.

I wish I could find an excuse to get out of this building for a while. I have an early one-on-one with my boss tomorrow to get me started on more stuff. I'm also feeling guilty because the rest of the department looks all frazzled while I'm busily goofing off and looking busy.

My shtick is always to be a respected member of the staff by actively contributing in ways people can see. I've done a little of that, but IMHO I haven't done enough.

After work I'm going to make a side trip to Ranch 99 Market and pick up some more goodies for my "Badly Translated Food Basket" I'm using for Monday's all-pubs potluck. I decided to bring those cheddar-garlic biscuits I made a couple of weeks ago -- well, not the same batch, but the same recipe. This time I know to avoid overcooking them. I kind of wanted to bring a main dish I knew I could eat, but someone else is already signed up to bring meat loaf, and besides, I don't have a serving dish I know I can keep warm for four (ugh) hours.

I've also decided I'm just going to pack a granola bar for the meeting. It allegedly comes with "breakfast," but it's "continental breakfast," which at Cadence seems to mean "sugar, sugar, and more sugar" and for me translates to "sedatives, sedatives, and more sedatives" -- the last thing I need as part of an early morning meeting! In our weekly meeting my boss told us the "real" meeting doesn't start till 8:30am "just in case [we] want to get in a little more sleep." I'm taking that option, thank you!

Aggravation time: My cable TV was mistakenly disconnected. I had until the 11th to pay the bill, but instead of waiting till the 12th some bozo disconnected it on the 11th before I could pay the bill (AT&T's computer was down). I eventually paid the bill, got a confirmation code, and was told it'd be on by today. It isn't. I can't believe those turkeys could possibly think I'd want to switch my telephone service to them! HA!